DATE RAPE

So Helen Mirren, fine actress that she is, thinks date rape should not be a matter for the courts. Citing her own experience in the "Independent" yesterday she effectively says that since she came to no harm, it's OK for women to be coerced into sex against their will. However, the world has moved on since she came to London as a young woman 40 years ago.

Date rape is a complex issue. Sex must never be forced on women. Rape is a criminal offence. I would not only defend the right of any women to say "no" but go further and say that women should be enabled to stand up for themselves in all circumstances. Men too must understand that no really does mean no. Yet, having said that, there are occasions when date rape is not an entirely clear cut issue.

In the Independent today Ann Widdecombe states in her usual forthright manner that if a women accepts an invitation to a man's room she knows what she is letting herself in for. As with many of Widdecombe's outpourings, this is simplistic in the extreme. I for one would hope that we are not so obsessed by sex that women and men are not able to communicate in other ways. Widdecombe also comes perilously close to saying that there is a certain type of behaviour that means women are asking for it. I for one had hoped that the notion that if women cross certain boundaries which never apply to men they are "no better than they should be" was well and truly dead in the water. Maybe I have been too optimistic.

The conviction rate for rape has fallen to an all time low though the number of rapes reported to the police has increased. The improvements in the way the police deal with rape victims does not seem to have spilled over to the criminal justice system, which still appears far too often to take the Mirren and Widdecombe line. This may to some extent be due to the fact that alcohol is involved in the overwhelming majority of rape cases - over 70 percent according to one study.

It is the drinks which do the damage rather than the much vaunted "spiking" which only occurs in about two percent of investigated rape cases. Drunken women are just as culpable as drunken men. If you drink to the point where you lose control and your memory of events is severely impaired, it is difficult to make sense of what may or may not have happened.

Out of control drinking, particularly by young people, is one of the key questions which needs to be addressed in the date rape debate. All of us, including the young people concerned, have a responsibility to reduce destructive binge drinking. Why do people, especially the young, feel the need to get out of their heads on a regular basis? Is drink too cheap and easily available? Should pubs and bars be stricter about serving more alcohol to those who are already drunk?

I believe there should be more places for young people to go which do not involve drinking. This is where community responsibility kicks in. I also believe making alcohol more expensive would help. Women are not responsible for violent and intimidating behaviour by men. They are, however, responsible for their own actions.